By Victoria Klesty
OSLO (Reuters) – New Nordic airline Norse Atlantic started ticket sales on Friday for budget transatlantic flights, hoping to succeed where Norwegian Air spectacularly failed, by betting on aircraft leased at rock-bottom rates during the pandemic.
Having assembled a fleet of widebody planes, Norway-based Norse will initially connect U.S. destinations New York, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles and Orlando with Norway’s capital Oslo, and with London and Paris to follow.
Its first flight will take off in Oslo on June 14, heading for New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, its booking system showed.
While the favourable terms of its leases and the fuel-efficiency of its modern aircraft should give it an edge on cost, the question is whether it can fill the planes and generate enough revenue to be profitable.
“It is always a bit of a risk when you are in the airline business but we think it’s a pretty good timing,” Chief Executive Bjoern Tore Larsen told Reuters.
Larsen, an aviation enthusiast and the company’s biggest shareholder, made his fortune in the shipping industry and controls ship management group OSM Maritime.
The United States is his personal favourite travel destination, and he believes there is a massive demand for budget travel between Europe and North America.
“We are pretty sure we will fill these aircraft with both Americans going to Europe and Europeans going to America,” he added.
Uncertainty about post-pandemic travel patterns and rising…
